I consider this a significant blog.
At a recent Republican picnic I was forced to think about the fact that in 1964 San Francisco there were many Republican officeholders at every level of government and the same was true for the state of California. Over the intervening 45 years the situation has radically changed. There is not a single Republican officeholders in San Francisco and very few in California.
Why?
I think there is one reason. The hereditary elite in the United States disappeared sometime around 1960 as I have explained in an earlier blog. The hereditary elite and the corporations and institutions they controlled were able to act as a moderating influence on the body politic up to that point. Private social clubs mattered.
The demise of the hereditary elite left a power vacuum that was filled by the default position in the body politic of the second half of the 20th century. The default position was unions, youthful rebellion and socialism-light. After the Dixiecrat’s were chased out of the Democratic party that left the Democratic Party as the home of unions, youthful rebellion and socialism-light.
From that day to this the majority party has really been the Democratic party. It has been defeated only when the general public was offended by issues of poor governance.
Richard Nixon was elected in reaction to blacks burning down our cities and hippies flaunting their pubic hairs. Ronald Reagan was elected in reaction to the flaccid presidency, wild inflation and humiliating foreign policy of Jimmy Carter. The Congressional upheaval of 1994 was a reaction to socialized medicine (as we now know since it was repeated in 2010.) George W Bush, a clean-cut fellow, was a reaction to Bill Clinton’s wandering genitals.
I believe the Republican party is in a long period of re-creation in which it will have to develop clear ideas that are consistent with the basic American sentiment. Few ideas that I have heard so far have a strong ring. The free market is not understood, but strong central government has failed everywhere in the 20th Century. The founding American documents continue to be what holds America together and what gives America it’s special status but this is a very abstract notion. Reducing the size of government is good rhetoric but has not happened so far in our history.
In my humble opinion, such a state of affairs (strong politics based on solid ideas) will not occur until the Republican Party and the conservative world are able to state that their distinction from the Democrats is a pure pro-commerce politics.
In the meantime, we are all in for a period of weak political identity. (Weak political identity means strong interpersonal fighting.) Democrats are stuck with ideas that failed in the 20th Century and Republicans are stuck without powerful new visions.
At a recent Republican picnic I was forced to think about the fact that in 1964 San Francisco there were many Republican officeholders at every level of government and the same was true for the state of California. Over the intervening 45 years the situation has radically changed. There is not a single Republican officeholders in San Francisco and very few in California.
Why?
The demise of the hereditary elite left a power vacuum that was filled by the default position in the body politic of the second half of the 20th century. The default position was unions, youthful rebellion and socialism-light. After the Dixiecrat’s were chased out of the Democratic party that left the Democratic Party as the home of unions, youthful rebellion and socialism-light.
From that day to this the majority party has really been the Democratic party. It has been defeated only when the general public was offended by issues of poor governance.
Richard Nixon was elected in reaction to blacks burning down our cities and hippies flaunting their pubic hairs. Ronald Reagan was elected in reaction to the flaccid presidency, wild inflation and humiliating foreign policy of Jimmy Carter. The Congressional upheaval of 1994 was a reaction to socialized medicine (as we now know since it was repeated in 2010.) George W Bush, a clean-cut fellow, was a reaction to Bill Clinton’s wandering genitals.
I believe the Republican party is in a long period of re-creation in which it will have to develop clear ideas that are consistent with the basic American sentiment. Few ideas that I have heard so far have a strong ring. The free market is not understood, but strong central government has failed everywhere in the 20th Century. The founding American documents continue to be what holds America together and what gives America it’s special status but this is a very abstract notion. Reducing the size of government is good rhetoric but has not happened so far in our history.
In my humble opinion, such a state of affairs (strong politics based on solid ideas) will not occur until the Republican Party and the conservative world are able to state that their distinction from the Democrats is a pure pro-commerce politics.
In the meantime, we are all in for a period of weak political identity. (Weak political identity means strong interpersonal fighting.) Democrats are stuck with ideas that failed in the 20th Century and Republicans are stuck without powerful new visions.